Officeworks plan to offshore white-collar jobs 'short-term solution'
The company says it wants a "globally connected team", but disgruntled staff say plans to offshore jobs is about replacing them with cheap labour.
Officeworks is set to replace its Sydney customer service staff with a call centre in the Philippines. (ABC News: Adam Griffiths)
Officeworks staff impacted by the company's plan to offshore some white-collar jobs say it is an attempt to cut labour costs.
A spokeswoman for the company says the majority of roles, including its in-store and fulfilment centre jobs would remain in Australia.
A retailing expert says it is "a short-term solution to a profitability issue", with long-term implications for Australian workers.
Employees of Officeworks say the company's plans to shift hundreds of white-collar jobs to India and the Philippines are an attempt to cut labour costs at the expense of local customer service.
The ABC has revealed the Australian office products retailer will replace its Sydney-based customer service centre staff with a call centre in the Philippines and plans to base hundreds of other staff in India in coming months.
The company said it wanted a "globally connected team" and to keep costs low for customers, but disgruntled staff have told the ABC they believe they are being replaced with cheaper labour.
A photo sent to the ABC shows a poster created by staff in the style of Officeworks's "price dropped" slogan. (Supplied)
One current employee, who asked not to be identified to speak freely, said staff with 20 years' tenure at the business were told about plans for redundancies in an online meeting.
"There was no send-off celebration funded by the business, only a digital card which got emailed around for people to send messages to," the employee said.
"Whilst I understand that there is skill capability overseas, the truth is, the capability exists here in Australia as well.
A photo sent to the ABC shows a poster created by staff in the style of Officeworks's "price dropped" slogan suggesting morale had been impacted by recent job cuts.
Internal communications sent to staff said the new offices in Manila and Bengaluru would operate as "fully integrated extensions" of the Australian business and enable access to global talent as it increased reliance on AI.
John Gualtieri emailed staff saying the company valued "doing the right thing". (Supplied)
An Officeworks spokeswoman reiterated in a statement the majority of roles, including its in-store and fulfilment centre jobs, would remain in Australia and that it was preparing to open new stores around the country.
But the company declined to respond to further questions about staff concerns.
In response to the ABC's initial story, Officeworks managing director John Gualtieri email
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